Effects of culture brokering on individual well-being and family dynamics in a sample of immigrant young adults from Eastern Europe

The current study explored the effects of culture brokering on the well-being and family dynamics of immigrant young adults from Eastern Europe. Data were collected from 197 first generation immigrant youth (M age = 22.93, SD = 2.89) from 12 different countries in Eastern Europe. The majority of the participants were female (63.5%) and had lived in the United States on average for 10 years. Participants completed a one-time online survey, answering questions about their brokering experiences, as well as about their well-being, family-dynamics, perception of their parents’ acculturation, and demographic variables. With respect to culture brokering, participants completed a well-established measure of language brokering which assesses the frequency of brokering as well as individual’s feelings toward brokering. A newly developed measure of procedural brokering, which also assessed frequency as well as feelings, was used to assess a new dimension of culture brokering. Data show that youth who are more educated and have lived in the United States for a longer period of time tend to broker less for their parents. Findings also indicate that negative feelings toward language brokering are related to depressive mood of young adults, but this relationship is mediated by family conflict. Similarly, family conflict mediated the relationship between frequency of procedural brokering and depressive mood. The results highlight the importance of understanding the complex family dynamics of immigrant families. Implications for further research and practice are discussed in detail